Palmer For President!
by ImSlowlyTurningIntoYou
Summary: After Season 1 Jack Bauer and Tony Must go rogue and unravel a plot to kill David Palmer on the day of the Presidential election.
1. 9am to 10am

I do not own 24 or any of its characters or plotlines. I do own this plot and any characters I've created. I don't own Starbucks either.

This takes place between seasons 1 and 2 of 24.

This chapter takes place from 9:00 am to 10:00 am on the day of the presidential election.

9:00am

Los Angeles

"_Today the poles open and the candidates for the President of the United States are Senator David Palmer and President Mike Hodges…" _

The aroma of coffee filled the Starbucks shop as a man sipped his cup in a vacant corner, the only sound was emanating from the television above the counter. He gazed down at the paper as the waitress brought him another glass and said "I think Palmer would make a great President. Don't you think so Mr. Skaruud." He sat there drinking the warm coffee as she continued, "Palmer has a presence when he steps into a room. He's like Abraham Lincoln. So what do you think?" she asked. "I tend not to get mixed up in it" he said with a middle Eastern accent. "I was shocked when they said he was dead a while back." The waitress said. "Let's hope it doesn't happen again" she continued. "Yes" said Mr. Skaruud,

The shadows of his face contorting as he winced "Let's hope so."

Jack Bauer sat in front of his television watching Senator David Palmer flash across the screen. His grizzly five o'clock shadow and his short hair reflected off the television, his eyes deep in thought. In an instant, Palmer and the incident he went through flashed before his eyes. He remembered the chess game he and his daughter Kim were playing before she ran away .Teri's ,his wife, smile scorched his thoughts like a bull prong. He could feel her in his arms remembering her lifeless body slumped on the ground. The thought of Kim's face collapsing like a beaten child from news of this was no more than a vexing hole eating away at Jack's abused heart. Now he lived by himself, hiding away from the nightmare that lost him his job as director of Counter Terrorist Unit Los Angeles. He had saved Palmer's life before but, now he had no control over helping him anymore, it was someone else's job now. Of course, if terrorists wanted something big to happen it would happen today. He began to get up but with a sigh he sat back down on the torn sofa. _Nothing to worry about,_ He thought to himself …_Nothing._

CTU LA 9:08:45

Tony Almeida pushed the glass door as he walked into the CTU meeting room. The glass walls had blue stripes going down them. George Mason, Michelle Desslar, Milo Stantes, and Ryan Chapelle filled the room. Tony took a seat in a blue chair before the glass table. Chapelle spoke first. "We want everyone to go vote today but, if we see any suspicious activity we are going to call you back. Palmer hasn't gotten any threats today but he probab-""Cut it Chapelle" said Tony. "Look the fact is Hodges and Palmer are under watch every second." Tony's head cocked, giving Chapelle his blank stare. "I mean-." Mason stopped him saying. "Actually Tony we have a reading of a suspicious satellite photos of known terrorist Al-vib Salef." Chapelle then spoke. "Tony I want you and leader of field ops Terrance Nightingly to check it out." The bluish shadows engulfed Tony's vacant expression. "Everyone's dismissed" Chappelle said starring at Tony. Tony walked up to Mason. "George, I'm no field agent." "And" Mason laughed."George" "Tony we're short-handed and it's your lucky day." Mason walked up the metal steps to the director's office. Tony turned and walked back to the main area of CTU. Terrence was talking to Michelle before turning back to Tony. " Ah, yes. Mason told me are you ready?" Michelle's phone rang as she picked it up. "Michelle Desslar." She waited for the response then called Chapelle. "It's the secret service" she said. Chapelle answered, "this is Chapelle who am I speaking with?" Tony turned back to Terrance "Yeah let's go". They both walked out of CTU and into a black SUV. They finally got on to the highway when Tony asked "So what has Salef's background?" " He organized Palmer's assassination attempt and he funded some bomb strikes here in the U.S." He said. "You helped save Palmer didn't you?" "Yeah" Tony remarked quickly. "Didn't someone named Jack Bauer save him." Tony nodded. "So what's he do"- Tony jolted as a jet of air exploded through the driver's seat, and a hoarse scream came from Terrence. The car went out of control as Tony grabbed the wheel and a gunshot zoomed beside his right ear. He couldn't keep the car steady as it flipped over the guardrail into a 10 foot deep ditch. A black car pulled over to the crash and two dark figures exited the vehicle.

9:13:48 9:13:49 9:13:50

9:18:59 9:19:00 9:19:01

Tony limped through the streets of Los Angeles before coming to the conclusion that the nearest person to him that he knew was Jack Bauer. He hadn't talked to Jack for a long time and he they weren't friends anyway, but there was no where else to go. He hadn't seen Jack since Teri died. How would Jack react to seeing the new second in command after what Nina had done to him? He had no time to waste though. He knew the terrorists would be tracking him down.

He rang the doorbell thinking to himself _I hope Jack's home._

Jack heard a ring from the door. He got out of his chair and put down his glass of water. He jerked open the wooden cabinet and rummaged through his belongings and pulled out his gun. He stepped through his hallway that was connected to the living room. Hs shoes padding down the hall to the rug in front of the door. Hiding the gun behind his back he undid the first lock but kept the chain on. _Can't be too careful _he thought as he in ripped open the door. "Tony?" Jack said puzzled "I said that no one from CTU was to contact me ever." "Jack this is differ- Jack interrupted Tony "Why are you here" He screamed. "Jack, someone tried to kill me. They killed our head of field ops. We went off the highway. I don't know why they would try to kill me." Jack unlocked the chain and let Tony in. Tony had blood on his right leg from the crash. Jack pulled out a box of first aid as Tony sat down on a chair next to the table. "You don't entertain much do you" said Tony noticing one chair in the kitchen. Jack laughed "I wasn't very social when I had a life Tony."

Milo was still working on some hourlys from Division when Chapelle walked by. "Milo, go home. We have no dangerous threat at all." "What about Tony and Terrance they haven't called in yet" Milo answered. Then Chapelle remarked "It's a long drive there Milo nothing happened. What about voting." "I don't vote anyway, But I guess I'll go." Milo got up and left his workstation. Michelle said to Milo as he walked by "Have a good time Milo." He nodded to her while he walked down to the glass door and through the parking lot. Milo thought to himself _I got a nice margarita waitin' for_ _me _as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the car door. **_BANG_**. An explosion erupted as Milo collapsed on the ground on fire with the car door on him.

"Aghh!" Tony yelled as Jack poured Hydrogen Peroxide on the wound. "Man I hope they didn't track me here." "What" Jack said shocked. Jack ran to the window looked in his driveway. "How far away were you?" Jack asked Tony. "On Farabee Highway" He answered. "Why would they want me dead?" Tony's phone started to ring. He pulled it out of the pocket of his denim jeans. "Tony Almeida. Who am I speaking to?" "Chapelle he answered. "Milo was killed By a car bomb a couple minutes ago." "How?" Tony asked. "We're still investigating. That's all Tony" "Chapelle I- The phone went dead. "Jack the phone's dead. What happened?."

9:27:17 9:27:18 9:27:19

9:37:42 9:37:43 9:39:44

"How could this happen?" Chapelle yelled at Michelle. "I don't know. All the cell phone towers in the Los Angeles area are down. Our computer mainframe suddenly shut down." Michelle replied. "We need to get to division. Its not"- Michelle interrupted. "For all we know they could be down too. Also, our cars might be rigged with explosives." "Yeah" Chapelle said "Wonder why Terrance's car wasn't rigged."

"No Service" Said Tony in dismay. "Something must have happened to the cell phone tower." "Tony?" Jack asked. "Yeah" "Did you see anyone following you?." Jack questioned. "No, but they can't just look for me all over Los Angeles and the LAPD will see that it was a gunshot wound on Terrance and will be watching for suspicious activity." "Actually" Jack said to Tony. "They could make it look like a shrapnel wound and they would be searching for you." "Crap" replied Tony.

"Michelle." Chapelle said. "Yes" she answered. "Can you use the emergency bandwidth or are there anyways to override this?" "The emergency bandwidth is out, too. I'm trying to override it but the encryption looks like it was done in our system." Michelle said. "So you're saying we have a mole?" "It is very likely sir." Michelle replied.

Mr. Skaruud walked down a street with cars whizzing by and bike riders waving to him.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed some numbers walking down the street as it rang.

He began to talk. "So Salef, Have you killed agent Almeida yet?" "There has been a slight problem Mal-vi." "What?" Asked Mal-vi Skaruub. "Agent Almeida escaped. We can't find him with LAPD investigating the car wreck." "You better" Scaruud replied. "We can't have him around when it goes down with Palmer. Also, did you make sure he can't tell them anything?" "Yes we already killed him." "Good" Skaruud replied. "Today the Americans will find out that no one is safe." He hung up the phone as he hailed a taxi.

George Mason began to walk down the stairs to the exit. "Mason. What are you doing?" Chapelle yelled. "Uh, well, you see its complicated." "Don't give me that crap Mason. We both you're just going to run away." "R-run away. What are you talking about? I just need a breath of fresh air." George Mason replied. "You are not to leave this building and that's an order. Mason turned around and walked toward his office. "Mason get back here and try to break this encryption." "I'm not really skilled at that sir." Mason said. "Were short handed and it's your lucky day." Chapelle laughed.

"Uh Jack I should be going back to Division or CTU. Thanks for the help. Also, can I borrow your car?" "I guess so but, be careful." Jack replied pulling out his car keys. He threw them to Tony and Tony walked to the door, but before leaving he said "Jack, I really appreciate your help. I owe you one." "Take care of yourself Tony." Then Jack started to think. _Maybe they want me dead, too. Tony and me have helped save Palmer before, maybe they're going to try again._ "Tony wait" Jack yelled. Jack ran threw the front door and just as Tony pushed the button to unlock the door Jack tackled Tony to the ground as the car exploded. "Now you owe me two Tony."

9:43:02 9:43:03 9:43:04

9:51:59 9:52:00 9:52:01

"Officer I'm not hurt" said Tony. "Okay, I'm perfectly fine." The LAPD officer walked away as Tony walked over to Jack. Jack began to talk. "Tony, I think the terrorists are trying to kill everyone who helped save Palmer last time." "I don't know. Maybe there killing any agent who is a threat to them." "Tony," Jack said "I been inactive for the last 5 months. I wasn't trying to stop terrorists." "Jack" Tony replied "Palmer is never going to be in the open today. He's going to be safe and sound in his home and the secret service is going to be everywhere. I think the terrorists just want to kill agents on one of America's most important days." "Maybe your right" Jack replied. "Still….

"Michelle are you sure it was Almeida?" asked Chapelle. "The encryption is coming from his workstation. Here's a scrambler phone you can tell the LAPD with it." Chapelle dialed 911.

Jack and Tony were relaxing on the couch waiting for the driveway to be cleared when the officer answered his walkie-talkie. They could only make out "Agent Almeida? I'll bring him in for questioning." He turned to Tony pulled out his gun and Turned to Tony. "I have orders bring you in agent Almeida." Jack pulled out his gun. The LAPD officer said "Put the gun down or I will shoot you." "Let me hand it to you" Jack said. Jack put the gun in the officer's outstretched hand and in one swift motion knocked the guns out of his hands and head-butted him. The officer collapsed to the floor knocked out. Tony ran through the back door. Jack turned around and grabbed his home phone. He followed Tony as they ran down a back alley and turned to go down a street as fast as they could.

Chapelle answered the phone. "Ryan Chapelle" he said. "Mr. Chapelle agent Almeida and Jack Bauer have escaped." "How!" Chapelle blasted. "We are looking into it sir" "Well look faster." Chapelle hung up the phone and muttered something under his breath.

"Michelle have you found anything in Tony's files yet?" "Everything seems normal" Michelle replied. "Keep looking. We have to assume Jack is a traitor, too. Mason search Jack's files for any incriminating evidence before he quit his job. How did we let them get away?"

"Jack why would they think I was a traitor." "Your guess is as good as mine." Jack's phone started ringing. Jack stared at his phone his face covered with shadows. "Jack, who is it?"

"It's Kim."

9:59:58 9:59:59 10:00:00


	2. 10am11 am

The following takes place from 10:00am to 11:00am on the day of the presidential election.

10:00am

"Hello" said Jack as he answered the phone.

"Hey, dad" Kim said. "I've got this new babysitting job to make some money."

"That's great sweetie" Jack answered.

"Dad, you haven't been calling me much, what's been going on."

"I've just been thinking about things honey."

Jack could hear some LAPD not far off. "Look honey I've got to g"-

"You always have to go Dad. Look I'm coming over right now."

"Honey" Jack turned to Tony. "She hung up on me. Kim's coming to my house."

"Look Jack" Tony said. "We have to get out of here the police could be here any second. You can explain to her later but, we need to get out of here fast." Jack and Tony went down a deserted back alley and came to a street where they hailed a cab.

Tony said "We need to go to"

"You aren't going anywhere"

The cab driver pulled out his gun and one other man popped up from the back and touched the barrel of the gun to Jack's temple.

"You're lucky Salef wants to kill you himself or I would splatter your brain. We're going to drive you back to our hideout and we're going to get what we want one way or another.

He then cocked his gun, before blindfolding him and Tony.

"Drive!" He commanded.

"Are we taking all measures to find Tony and Jack?" asked Chapelle.

"We've given all the Taxi companies and LAPD their ID and we've set up a fifteen mile perimeter around Tony and Jack's last known location, which was heading east on fifth street." said Michelle.

"Tell all units to not shoot to kill." Chapelle commanded.

"It's going to take a while to get to the units because of the encryption." Michelle replied.

"Just get through to them. George any luck with the encryption?" asked Chapelle.

"No, but I did find this." Mason handed a data disc. "I downloaded some files off Tony's CPU. It has a location on it. It's 1145 Marchland Drive."

"George, notify Swat of this location."

"It will take awhile."

"I know George. Now Shut up and work.

George stared annoyed and mimicked Chapelle's snooty nature.

_Senator David Palmer of the Democratic Party… _

David Palmer relaxed on his couch, wearing a blue striped collared shirt and sharply creased khaki pants, with a gold band around his wrist. He heaved a sigh of relief, _no more competing for the biggest job in the United States, but if I am voted into office the real work is just beginning. _

He turned to his new secretary and asked "So what have you been doing Julia? There haven't been any speeches to write or any visits to arrange."

She smiled and said "I've been writing your acceptance speech."

"Ah, yes" Palmer chuckled with a heavy resonance, his gray sideburns shifting "Well, we're going to know by the end of today, aren't we" a smile creasing his giddy face.

Julia returned the smile, her lipstick shimmering from the rays pouring from the sunlit window. She relaxed in her chair, her purple silk blouse glowing in the otherwise colorless room.

"I think we all knew a long time ago Mr. President."

Kim turned right at the intersection about 16 miles away from her father's home. She took her feet off the gas at the stop sign and looked both ways and waited for a blue van to go before she turned right. _It seems like dad was hiding something from me _she thought to herself. _He seemed…_she searched for the right word_ desperate, desperate for her not to bother him today._ _Why is he doing this on Election Day? Does that have anything to do with it? _She turned the corner to see a roadblock had been established. _Weird_ she thought. She pulled up to the roadblock and asked a police officer "What happened here?"

"I'm sorry mam but two men are in this area and we have orders to take them in."

"Have you notified my dad yet?" Kim continued.

"What's your father's name mam?"

"Jack Bauer" she replied. The man shocked, radioed in.

"Niner-niner one of the suspect's daughters is here."

"Suspects what are you talking about? What's going on here?" Kim asked uneasily.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Bauer but I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."

10:09:29 10:09:30 10:09:31

10:16:34 10:16:35 10:16:36

The taxi stopped as 4 Middle Eastern looking men secured Tony and Jack. One other man talked to the American man who had threatened to shoot him.

"Salef is happy you brought them in. We will torture Almeida first, he will know more about the Americans trying to stop us. Has anyone at CTU activated it yet?"

"Not that I know of… but someone's bound to do it.

George Mason continued to work at the encryption.

"Mason do you have any results? We need to talk with the SWAT teams when the operation begins." asked Chapelle.

Before Mason could answer Michelle shouted. "SWAT is in position and they are converging."

"Tell them we need someone alive. Do not shoot to kill." Chapelle commanded.

"I can't get through to them." Michelle replied.

"Crap." Chapelle said.

"SWAT we are go. I repeat we are go."

A platoon of SWAT was waiting outside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, its foreboding presence keeping the men on their toes.

In the dark warehouse shadowed figures hid from the light as a hushed voice whispered with a German accent,

"Mein Herr, Swat teams are converging on our position!" A dark figure replied with a bass voice.

"Salef told us to use the tunnel in the basement during emergencies." He included with a grin "It will lead us out of the industrial sector. Tell our men to hold position and to fall back if things get too dicey."

A shout rang across the room.

"Zher Hier!" (There here!)

Immediately gunmen opened fire from their positions, their guns rattled like hissing snakes down at the assaulting troops. Shouts could be heard from the attackers, as bullets sprayed from the lit up warehouse. A loud shot rang through the air, blasting through the torso of an assault trooper, as the bullet exploded behind his back with sailing shards trailed with smoke. He crashed on the dry pavement heaving a guttural exhale, as his allies fell to a prone.

"Michael's down!" shouted a trooper in disbelief, his head staring at the pool of blood his friend was in.

"Jim! How was he hit!" screamed the soldier .The other soldier crawled to the bloodied corpse, his black uniform collecting dirt as he trudged, flinching from enemy fire as the same shot ensued, bringing down another trooper. The soldier felt the bloody wounds of the dead man.

The soldier gasped "Shot came from on top of the warehouse."

The other soldier reached for his com-link while lying on the ground.

"This is Bravo Section come in Eagle Eye HQ."

The com-link fizzled as HQ replied, "This is Eagle Eye HQ."

"We need conformation of sniper on roof. Upload it on my nav system, over."

"Roger that Bravo satellite upload commencing." The soldier flinched as another man hit the pavement with the metallic bash of his helmet ringing out, as the bullet exploded through his back.

The com-link fizzled again "We have conformation of sniper on your 1o'clock 100 yards on the southwest corner of the warehouse."

"Roger that HQ." The soldier turned to his right and saw a grenade launcher team hugging the pavement as columns of dirt splattered around from where the bullets hit the ground.

"Hey you!" he yelled at the grenade launcher team. "Fire on this location," he handed the team his nav-system. They aligned the grenade launcher and fired. The explosion blew of the corner of the warehouse as a flaming body exploded threw the air.

"All units go, I repeat go."

The SWAT busted down the door and the first soldier yelled

"Covering fire!" as he kept his shield in front of him, spraying bullets across the building. The next officer pulled out his M-16 and shot one of the Germans in the head who, then collapsed on the floor. A German popped up among the crates and shot him repeatedly in the chest and his lifeless body slid into a crate. Another soldier then threw a grenade over some of the crates the enemies were hiding behind the explosion killed about six more. A German pulled out his Bosch shotgun and snuck up next to a SWAT officer blasting him in the back of the head. Another SWAT grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. He dropped his shotgun but pulled out his knife and stabbed the officer in the leg and got away from the bloody officer.

"Aghh!" the officer screamed pulling the knife out of his leg. Another SWAT shot the German in the back. Only five Germans remained and they tried to escape through the basement. One soldier followed and sprayed some rounds into the first retreating soldier's back. He sputtered as he fell onto the hard floor.

"Come on. Get in!" the leader yelled while his comrades continued to crawl through the dark tunnel. Suddenly the first German to go in tripped a laser wire. The tunnel exploded and screams of terror emitted through the warehouse.

"You'll be in here before we… ask you a few questions. Ha." The man cackled with laughter. He and another large Middle Eastern man threw Tony and Jack into their cell. The bars were covered with rust and there was a metal table in the middle. The walls were like those of a labyrinth, gray brick.

Tony turned to Jack and said "Jack one of us has to get out of here to tell CTU were this place is."

"Tony," Jack replied "CTU thinks we're traitors, they won't care what I have to say."

"Jack, the fact is if they're interrogating me they won't have as many people looking for you."

With no reluctance at all Jack replied, "I'm not hanging you out to dry."

"You won't, you'll be doing a service to your country."

Jack stared Tony in the eyes and said "You know they'll push you extra hard."

"I'm prepared for anything Jack."

10:34:07 10:34:08 10:34:09

10:39:52 10:39:53 10:39:54

"Look, I don't know anything about what my dad was doing today, okay." Kim said fighting away from two large LAPD officers. The interrogation cell had a blue hue and a large mirror in front of a table.

"I think that's a lie." Said a tall muscular guard hunched over the metal table. "Our records show that you called your father 40 minutes ago."

"He just didn't want to talk to me. I didn't know why he was acting so weird so I decided to come over and see what was wrong with him."

"We need this information, so we're going to do whatever we can to get it."

A Middle Eastern man wearing a gray shirt with a black leather jacket over it, grabbed Tony and pushed him against the rusty old bars. Another man dressed in a grey shirt kept his gun pointed at Tony. Jack knocked the gun out of the second man's hand and punched him in the nose. The man's head smashed into the bars of the cell. Jack quickly picked the gun up off the ground and pointed it at the man holding Tony.

"Put down the gun or I will shoot him."

"Okay, okay." Jack said staring into Tony's eyes. Jack moved his hand lower and lower before bringing it up quickly. Tony pulled his head down and Jack shot the man in the chest. The man dragged along the wall before hitting the floor. Tony took the man's pistol and smoke grenade.

"Okay," Tony said "I'll create a distraction. Now get out of here." Tony handed Jack the ammo from the first man's pistol. Jack headed right while Tony headed left. Tony pulled out the smoke grenade and when he saw some other lackeys heading down the hall he threw the smoke grenade.

Jack hid behind a crate farther down the right hall and suddenly he felt sad for Tony. _I guess I could come back for him, but CTU needs to know about the situation. Actually they wouldn't believe me they'd think I'm a traitor. Once I get on the outside I could come back for him._

Tony stepped out and put his hands on is head.

"I give up. Don't shoot me." Tony pleaded as some Middle Eastern men tied his wrists up. Then Al-Vib Salef stepped out of the crowd of terrorists.

"Where is Jack Bauer?" Salef questioned Tony.

"Who's this Jack Bauer you speak of?" Tony responded. Salef kicked Tony in the chest and Tony collapsed to the floor.

George Mason placed his elbows on his desk, frustratingly toying with what little hair he had. The annoying everyday rings of telephones combined with the monotonous blurps and scans of computers rattled on.

"Mason we need that encryption now." dragged on Chapelle.

Mason replied with an annoying flare "Working on it. W-wait a second, I think I got something."

"Michelle get over here." commanded Chapelle. Michelle walked briskly from her desk.

"What's the problem?" Michelle asked.

"Mason thinks he's on to something here." Chapelle commented.

"Yeah, uh, I think I can reboot our system, if I use the right hotkey I should be able to access the encryption's main grid." Mason said smirking.

"Try F1 and use control plus shift." Michelle suggested.

"F1 is working, control is also activating, but shift is jamming the grid.

"Try enter." Michelle said.

"It's working. Bingo. Now if I just shut down the grid the encryption will free up our system."

"Mason?" Michelle reluctantly asked "I don't think you should do that."

"Quiet. Shutting down the grid." Suddenly lights and computer monitors went black with a moaning roar, Mason and the others waited quietly in the dark abyss.

"Rebooting the main grid" signaled Mason. Suddenly, all lights and machinery hummed back to life, with a bewildered Mason and a delighted Chapelle and Michelle. The computer screen replied with an assortment of bleeps,

"System Ready." George let out a sigh of relief as he slumped back in his chair, his red-checkered tie shining. Chapelle clasped a pat on George's stiff shoulder.

"Good job George." He said.

With a triumphant grin Mason replied "Touchdown." All seemed relieved except Michelle, as she tugged on a loose lock of hair.

"Don't you think that was a bit too easy?" she questioned. All of a sudden a deafening pulse roared to life in the building, gaining height in pitch and intensity. Mason slowly riveted his head to the right, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek.

"Get down!" shouted Chapelle, immediately grabbing Michelle's arm as he dragged both of them beneath the desk, his tie flailing like a kite. George sat at his desk, stupefied. With a curve in his lip, He mumbled

"Holy sh-" KABOOOOOOOMMM!

10:53:40 10:53:41 10:53:42

10:57:14 10:57:15 10:57:16

"Where is Jack Bauer?" asked another Middle Eastern man holding a knife to Tony's cheek.

"He escaped when I set off the smoke grenade." Tony coughed, "he went right past you."

"You're lying to me." The man said pricking Tony's face with the knife. Then, he kicked Tony in the chest, and Tony fell backward coughing.

"I'm telling you all I know!" Tony shouted as the torturist pulled a pistol out of his pocket and aimed it at Tony's leg.

"Tell me or I will shoot your legs, and then I can shoot your arms, and your fingers, till you tell us where Jack Bauer is."

"I don't know where he is…" Something caught Tony's eye. "Actually, he's right behind you."

"I warned you" the man yelled as a gunshot rang across the room and a loud bloody scream.

Smoking embers accompanied with sparks of electricity danced around the black rubble as dust settled in the air. Support beams lay battered on shattered computers, the heavy smell of smoke further revealed the disaster that was CTU. Michelle laid still and barren, debris all over her. Her dust covered hand stuck out from the wreckage, bent pieces of metal covered the rest of her arm. Somewhere in the darkness her hand twitched.

10:59:58 10:59:59 11:00:00


	3. 11am 12am

The following takes place between 11am and 12pm on the day of the Presidential election.

Let me remind you that I do not own 24.

11:00 am

The terrorist fell to the ground as he emitted one last hoarse hack before he died. Tony stood up his, a little bit of blood trickling down the edge of his mouth.

"What took you so long?" Tony asked while wiping the blood off his face.

"I had to come in through the ventilation shaft." Jack answered his while Tony picked up the guard's gun.

"C'mon, let's get out of here Jack."

"Actually," Jack replied his face covered in sweat "there's someone I'd like to talk to first." Jack and Tony proceeded to the exit as Jack whispered "Shoot anyone but don't kill Salef." Jack motioned for Tony to cover him out the door. Tony leaned in before shooting an older American man to the ground. Jack walked by and picked up the man's 44 magnum. They continued down the dark damp hallway. Jack leaned in the door to see two terrorists talking to each other. Both Middle Eastern men laughed as one continued to talk.

"Tony, you take the one on the left I'll the one on the right." They both stepped in and shot both terrorists in their heads, Jack's arms flailing in the air as he shot the high powered gun.

They could hear voices coming to their position as Jack said "Get ready Tony."

David Palmer relaxed on his bage fabric polestry couch, the thought of the upcoming day filling his mind.

Aaron Pierce, one of the secret service men guarding Palmer stepped up to Palmer with some news, "Sir, CTU Los Angeles was destroyed about 6 minutes ago."

"How did this happen, Aaron?" Palmer asked his face twisting as he prepared to get up from the couch.

"We are looking into it sir. Medvac teams are on the scene, only the front of CTU has been damaged sir." Palmer tied his hands together behind his back, staring in at the view from his estate. "Sir, we also have information on who might have organized this strike."

Palmer turned back to face the secret service agent and asked, "Well, who was it Aaron."

Aaron Pierce hesitated before replying "Tony Almeida."

"Have you found him yet?" Palmer asked his eyes piercing the officer.

"We have run into a problem, it seems someone is helping him to avoid our capture." Pierce ended before adding, "You're not going to like this sir." Palmer stood his eyes meeting Pierce's. "Sir it's Jack Bauer." Palmer stood his mouth ajar frozen as he contemplated Jack's involvement in the mysterious events.

"It's not p-possible." The senator stuttered as he continued "Jack saved my life, he, was the one who saved my life Aaron…"

"I know sir, but we need to turn our attention to more desperate measures."

"She's alive. I'm looking for identification right now… it's Michelle Dessler. We need med over here pronto." Medical teams worked on Michelle as others searched across the debris of CTU.

The worked responded in, "I think its Chapelle. He doesn't have a pulse. We need the epinephrine. I'm giving him chest compressions. He's not responding." Some more members injected the epinephrine into Chapelle. Chapelle hacked as the chest compressions continued.

"He's breathing, He's alive!" Chapelle continued to cough as he turned his head to the side.

Aaron Pierce turned from the phone to Palmer.

"Sir," Aaron said, "Michelle Desslar and Ryan Chapelle are alive. They are not stable to talk yet sir." Palmer relaxed in his chare covering his face while taking a deep breath.

He continued to rub his chin as Aaron replied "Michelle Desslar is talking now sir. You can listen in.

A man's voice questioned Michelle as she managed to say, "The bug started and we… we…we…wuh…it triggered a bomb…an ." Michelle's eyes closed as her head fell back to he ground.

"Her pulse is gone!"

Palmer cringed as more voices yelled in the distance.

"Clear!"

11:12:05 11:12:06 11:12:05

11:16:22 11:16:23 11:16:24

Jack crouched in front of a doorway as he signaled for Tony to cover him while they methodically traversed the metal warehouse. Tony quickly leaned in the doorway, both hands on his pistol. Tony waved Jack as he tuned in the room and swiftly shot a man who was just inside the wall. The man collapsed to the floor a stain of blood through his jeans. Jack kicked away the gun before the older man could grab it. Jack bent down to the man and pressed the gun to his chest.

"Tell me where Salef is or we can make this a lot harder than it has to be." grabbing the terrorist's dark leather jacket with his free hand.

"Where is your father, Kim?" The large guard passed around the interrogation room.

Kim lifted hands in the air as she replied, "I don't know what was going on with him. I know as much as you do." The officer continued to pace around the cell eyeing Kim until he stepped out of the room. Another officer met him outside the interrogation cell.

"Well?" The large guard asked.

"The polygraph analysis was normal until the end."

They continued to walk down the hall until the interrogating officer stopped and asked "What did she say at the end?"

"She said that she knew as much as we did."

"Michelle Desslar is stable! I repeat Michelle Desslar is stable." Palmer let out of sigh of relief, his hand rubbing his head. Palmer then rested his chin on his fist and devoted his full attention to the transmission. Slight murmuring could be heard as Michelle coughed before continuing her story.

"Mason triggered … the bomb… we tried to reset the bug on our… mainframe… … we were cut off." Michelle coughed and inhaled deeply before regaining the composure to speak up. "It was strange how it… seemed it would reboot… but… it knew our network. It was like someone gave information to terrorists about the Counter Terrorist Unit. It was strange almost like Geor.. Geo..Gr…"

"What's going on," Palmer yelled to the advisers and officers in the room."

The transmission came back as a voice said, "I think she's knocked out. She is breathing though."

Another voice blew over the speaker, "We've found Mason. I repeat we have found Mason."

The door opened as Kim shifted out of her slouch.

"Our polygraph analysis shows your holding something back."

Kim looked around wordlessly before replying, "Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I've told you everything I know." Kim stared the officer straight in the eyes.

"Tony Almeida is somehow related in terrorist activity and you're going to tell me that you're father helped him out of friendship." Kim still had nothing to say as the officer continued, "If the records are correct they weren't much of friends anyway." Kim sunk deeper into her chair. "Mr. Williamson is from division and he will inject you with a serum that will burn every nerve in your body. Tell us everything right now or we will have to do this to you!"

"Okay! There is one thing that was strange, but it isn't much. He didn't answerer his cell phone and I left four messages, but he didn't call back. When I talked to him today he seemed, rushed, like he was doing something that could have some major consequences. Look, that's all I know."

The officer radioed in, "Find Bauer's cell phone, I repeat find it now!"

Jack and Tony continued their constant path through the warehouse main center where they hid behind some crates. Two Middle Eastern men were guarding the main entrance from the detention cell. _Good thing we took the long way, _Jack thought as he and Tony signaled for each other to take down the men. Both popped up behind their cover and shot in perfect fluid unison. Jack was not very rusty for being off duty as long as he had. After the shots were fired a Middle Eastern man ran along the pillars.

"Quick! It's Salef!" Jack yelled to Tony as they prowled on opposite sides of the large room. They quickly chased Salef, their guns at their sides ready to shoot anyone from both sides. Salef jumped out of the behind some barrels and pointed his gun at Jack who was still crouched low.

"Put the gun down Bauer!" Salef yelled.

"Ok. I'm putting the gun down." Jack bent over placing the gun to the ground.

"Okay. Turn a-eh!" Tony grabbed Salefs gun hand and twisted it behind his back.

"I am not afraid to die." Salef yelled.

"Don't worry," Tony replied twisting his arm farther as he shoved him into a pillar, "you won't have too."

11:30:12 11:30:13 11:30:14

11:38:46 11:38:47 11:38:48

"Why did you take out CTU and try to kill Tony Almeida!" Jack stared Salef in the eyes. Salef began to laugh. "Tell me now." Jack punched Salef in the chest.

Salef hacked before replying, "It would be an honor to die for my cause." Jack pulled a pistol out and pointed straight to Salef's shoulder.

"I'm going to disable your arms one by one until you tell me why this is happening."

"You wouldn't do that. I'm too valuable to you. I can give you what you want for a price." Jack stared at Salef for a while before pulling the trigger. The force of the gun pushed Salef and the chair he was tied to, to crash into the cement floor.

"Jack you idiot. We need him alive." Tony yelled.

Jack bent down, put two fingers on Salef's throat and replied "Don't worry Tony he's still got a pulse."

"I have possession of Jack Bauer's cell phone." An officer radioed in to the Chief LAPD police officer.

"Okay good. Look at the recent calls," The Chief waited for an answer.

"Ok, I see some numbers. Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"

"Yeah. Now what are they?"

"Let's try again. Why are you killing off CTU agents?"

Jack's pistol pressed to Salef's shoulder as he spoke, "It was pretty much a diversion. They wanted to make it look like we were trying to get all of them and we were just supposed to get one."  
"So you were just out to get me." Tony said.

"No we were supposed to get a man named, Terrance Nightingly."

"Why him?" Jack asked.

"They just told me to make sure to get him. Everything else was optional."

"Who's they?" Jack asked cocking his pistol.

"Look, I don't know. They call me and give me my assignment."

"What's the number?" Jack said slowly.

"We are calling the number. Can you hear?" The officer asked.

"Loud and clear," Ross Hammond replied from Division. A ring was audible through the phone as Hammond and the officer listened in.

The phone rang over the sound of the news. The man got up to walk towards his phone and looked at his phone. He realized it was Jack.., but wait Jack had gone dark just a while ago. Something had to be going on.

The man immediately shut the phone and took out the battery. He opened a drawer and pulled out a flashlight and other different items. Lastly he pulled out a pistol and tucked it into his pack. He left his house and started up the car.

"One wrong move and you will never walk again. You understand me?" Salef nodded as the phone continued to ring pressed to the side of his face, while he was tied to the chair.

"Hello." A Middle Eastern voice projected from the phone.

"I was asking if there was anyway I could collect the payment in advance." Salef asked his face quivering with sweat.

"There is one more thing I need you to do."

"I'm listening." Salef replied breaking the silence.

"All I need you to do is to take the batteries out of your cell phone. Some people in the U.S. government are hacking our scrambling phones and they could break through. May our plan go well. We will make arrangements for the money later."

"Yes sir." Salef responded as the phone call ended. No one spoke until Salef said "We need to take the batteries out of the phone! He might be tracking me."

"I'll take them out." Tony said preparing to pull off the cover.

"Wait!" Jack yelled as Tony opened the phone. Tony fully understood and chucked the phone away as it exploded in the air.

11:49:50 11:49:51 11:49:52

11:56:12 11:56:13 11:56:14

George Mason's vision finally came back to him as the figures blended from blurry shadows to perfectly vibrant people. "Where am I?" he asked sitting up in the wake of the disaster.

"He's speaking. He's stable! I repeat. George Mason is stable. Get some water for him. C'mon get moving people." An assistant went to get a drink for Mason. "Mr. Mason. I'm with the medvac team. I'm Carol Weathers. I need you to tell me how this happened. Maybe even who was involved in it." The assistant returned with water and Mason gulped some down before beginning to tell them his story.

"I was trying to stop this virus that came from agent Tony Almeida's computer." Carol Weathers scribbled down notes on a piece of paper. "I think he's the one involved and when I looked into his files there were a large amount of coded information and accessing them launched some terrorist bomb in CTU. That's about all I know." He steadily sipped some water before the medvac team asked him to come with them.

Jack's home phone rang from Jack's pocket. "Excuse me Tony I've got to take this."

Tony watched Salef as he sat tied to a chair blood dripping from the bullet wound in his shoulder. Tony paced around Salef and aimed his gun straight to Salef's head.

When Jack finally turned around the corner he hid behind some crates. "Yeah?" Jack asked.

"Everything seems to be going good." A voice replied on the other end.

"Are you sure that you can get into the information we need?"

"Yeah, I hear practically every thing that goes through the terrorists. I know they're looking to take someone down, but I'm not sure. Our next move is in place Jack. Remember no one can know about this." Jack gazed around the corner at Tony. "No one! It won't work out like that. It's been great working with you Jack."

"You too Mal-Vi Skaruud." Jack hung up the phone before walking out the hall.

11:59:58 11:59:59 12:00:00


End file.
